Mike And The Kids
by TiberiusNero
Summary: Name's Mike Schmidt. I watch over a bunch of killer animal robots. Or at least, I used to. Now I'm looking after four little kids. I don't know which is weirder, to be honest.
1. The Fifth Night

**I've had this plot bunny in my head for months now, and I've finally got it the way I want (I hope). I hope this offers some unique idea into the FNAF fandom. Read, enjoy, comment, etc. All characters (save for a few names) belong to Scott Cawthorn.**

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Now, I'm sure you're wondering just how this happened. Well, I can certainly say that this is right up there with the situation that lead up to this one. I know not everyone has gone through this, so why don't I just start at the beginning?

I'm the Night Watchman at a place called Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Nice little joint, if not a little antiquanted. That comes more from the fact that the management's so cheap, they haven't sprung for new equipment in years. It remains popular enough to keep running, so I guess they're doing something right.

So why does a place like this need a Night Watchman? At the time, I didn't know and I didn't care. Since the position was being offered, I thought it would be a nice way to earn a quick buck for emergencies. Even if it wasn't much ($120 is way below minimum wage), it sounded like the easiest job in the world. Sit down, watch the joint for a few hours, and collect my pay at the end of the week.

Check in to my first night to find out the place is haunted! And we're not talking "Casper the Friendly Ghost"! We're talking "Poltergeist" levels of horrifying! At night, the animatronics that entertain the guests when the restaurant's open start moving around, and according to the messages I've been left, they're looking to stuff me into one of those robots. That doesn't sound so bad, except for the fact that there's machinery stuffing them already that would kill me. Painfully.

Now, I know what you're thinking. "Why haven't you called the police or something?" Because I've seen this before, and there was a good chance that the police wouldn't find anything remotely incriminating or unusual. Given that the place has been around for years, this company was probably good at covering things up. Might also explain where all the money was going. One employee's hearsay wouldn't be nearly enough to warrant any kind of investigation.

That being said, it was up to me to look into the matter myself, so I stuck it out for another night. Then another, and another. The only thing I had learned out of those nights was that the robots got more agressive each night I was there, which made it nearly impossible to investigate on my own. I was stuck in that little security room, watching the cameras for any kind of clue as to what caused the robots to start moving on their own. The time I had to find it wouldn't last long, since they'd start moving, and I'd need to start trying to keep them out of my room.

If I seem uncomfortably calm about all this, it should be known that I've always had a fascination with the supernatural, ever since I was a kid. The fact that I hadn't heard about this place being haunted speaks a lot for how well the company has kept this under wraps. Any ordinary person would have quit by now, but there were so many questions that would be left unanswered if I just quit, and I have a bad habit of not leaving things alone.

So here's where I start: It was the fifth night working at the restaurant. It was also the night of a real bad thunderstorm. Rain and noise were hardly enough to keep me at bay, however, so I fought the weather in order to make it to work on time. Not that there was a manager there to make sure I made it, which confused me until I started working. I had already become well-aquanited with my animatronic friends, but I still prepared myself for the worst.

With the messages given to me discovered to be posthumous, I was on my own in this. Once it hit midnight, I'd need to steel my nerves and devote the entirety of my attention towards surviving the night. I stood ready with the camera tablet in my hand, counting down until it became midnight. Minutes turned into seconds. I stared so intensely at the clock, I should've paid attention to the storm getting so bad, you could hear from inside the building. A fact I didn't notice until it was right on top of me.

BOOOOM!

The noise made me fall out of my seat, but that was far from the worst part. The lights flickered and blew out with that last lightning strike. All the power in the building had gone out, in fact. I had had a close call with the power running out just before my shift had run out and it came back on, but what was I supposed to do if it went out right off the bat? Finding little other choice, I scrambled to a corner of the security room, and tried my best to stay quiet and hidden. Maybe if I was lucky, they'd just miss me. I knew they were smarter than that, but I held on to whatever odd thought of hope came to me.

A few minutes passed with nothing happening. I assured myself that only minutes had passed, but it felt far longer than that. My watch had a light built into it, but I was afraid turning it on would attract the robots, so I kept still. There being no power in the building never stopped them from moving around before, and I was certain it wasn't going to stop them now. I was so quiet, all I could hear was my heart pounding in my ears. If I could have kept that quiet, I would have.

After what felt like hours, the lights flickered back on. Checking my watch, it had only been twenty minutes. That would have been plenty of time for them to come get me, with how agressive I was sure they would be this night. Something felt off, and me being the ever curious fool, I had to find out what it was. I immediately went to the monitor. The first place I checked was the main stage.

To my utter surprise, the robots were still on the stage. In fact, it looked like they hadn't moved an inch. I was convinced they would have used the darkness to their advantage, but there they were: Freddy, Bonnie and Chica, all standing still. I kept the camera on them for a few good minutes before I decided to look at the other place a robot stood, Pirate Cove.

Usually, I'd find Foxy peeking out from the curtains, ready to start running to the security room the second the camera was off him. This time, however, he stayed behind the curtain, but there was something off. I noticed the curtain was moving just slightly, as if something just passed it. What could have done that, if the other three were still on the stage, and Foxy hadn't budged?

I decided to check the other rooms for anything strange. Backstage, clear. Restrooms, clear. Supply closet, clear. West hall...there was something. It was quick, but I saw something. Instinctively, I reached for the button that closed the door and pounded it, ensuring myself I was safe from whatever I just saw. Double checking the cove and the stage, everyone was still accounted for, so what did I just see?

Whatever it was, it was probably right by the door, so I turned on the light to take a peek. I saw something jump, almost like they were startled, when the light came on. It was a head of black hair, from what I could tell, short enough to just be below the view from the window. Completely confused now, I had to find out just what this was. Cautiously, I pressed the button for the door so it would open, and looked out. I was not at all prepared for what I saw.

A little Asian girl stood in front of the door, looking utterly frightened. Her straight black hair came down to about her neck, and the eyes looking at me with apprehension were a vibrant purple. I wish I could describe more about her, like perhaps where she came from by the clothes she was wearing, which would be helpful if she was wearing clothes at all. This little girl, naked and shivering, invited more mystery than the animatronics themselves.

"Hey," I started to try and converse with her. If she was some kind of ghost that could harm me, I was screwed. "What are you doing here?"

"I don't know..." the girl meekly spoke. She was catching her breath, likely from walking around scared out of her wits.

"You're lost?" I asked her. She nodded. "Do you know where your parents are?" Her head shook. This didn't help at all. Last I checked, all the doors into the building were locked. It shouldn't be possible for a girl who looks to be about 7 at least and without a stitch of clothing to be able to break in.

"Do you have any clothes?" She asked, looking hopeful that I had something I could cover her with.

"Um...I have this," I quickly slipped off my uniform's jacket. "It's not much, but it'll keep you warm." I help her into it and zip up the front. With the bottom of the jacket coming down past her thighs, all the important parts were covered. "There you go. Much better, yeah?"

"Where am I?" She asked me, her voice a little clearer now.

"You're in Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. My name's Mike," I introduced myself. "What's your name?"

"Beth..." the girl replied. She looked around, slightly confused. "This is Freddy's?"

"Yeah, I know. Looks completely different when it's closed, huh?" I said. She probably didn't recognize the place without all the lights on.

"That's not-" Beth began to say, but a clamor from one of the other rooms caught both of our attentions. "What was that?!"

"Keep your voice down," I told her. "I'll go check it out. You stay here. This room is safe." I lead her into the security office and sat her on the chair. Her toes barely skimmed the floor. "You hear something coming your way, you press these buttons, and a steel door will come down." I demonstrated how they work. She jumped a little at the noise, but she seemed to understand the concept.

"Are you gonna be okay?" Beth asked me. It was sweet of her to ask, given that we only just met. The fact that I gave her something to wear probably helped that.

"I should be," I reassured her. To be honest, I didn't know what was out there, but I didn't want to leave it to chance that it might be something worse, especially now with this little girl in tow. I grabbed the flashlight from the desk and stopped at the doorway. "I'll be back. I promise. You be a good girl and stay here, okay?"

With a nod from her, I set off to investigate the rest of the restaurant. I couldn't believe the potential danger I was putting myself into, but I didn't want to leave things hanging. My own curiosity about this event was about the only thing motivating me to keep moving. That, and the instinct to protect those younger and weaker than myself, obviously.

Just when I thought I had this place figured out, the universe decides to throw me a curveball. A curveball in the form of a naked little girl. She didn't know how she got inside the place, much less what the place was. She seemed to recognize the name, so I thought to ask her some more questions when I got back.

I reached the Dining Room by the time I brought myself back to the task at hand. So far, I hadn't seen anything on the way here. Scanning with the flashlight didn't bring anything up either, and I could only feel myself get more and more nervous. Something made that noise, and I'm sure it wasn't rats. Just then, I felt something bump into me from behind.

"Who's there?!" I whirled around and pointed the flashlight.

"Gah!" I saw a pair of small hands spring up in front of a face. Another child, a redhead, as far as I could tell from the mess of curly hair from behind their hands. From the voice of that small scream, I guessed them to be a boy, although I would be able to glean that if I looked down. Just like Beth, this boy was also completely naked.

"Woah! Sorry. You startled me," I turned the flashlight away from his face, and tried to sound as non-threatening as possible.

Once the flashlight was off of him, the boy proceeded to cover himself with his hands. "Hey, mister. Do you know where I am?" He asked, the smallest hint of a Scottish accent in his voice. "And why am I naked?"

"You mean you don't know?" I asked in response, to which the boy shook his head. "You're in Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, buddy. As for your clothes, I haven't the slightest clue where they could've gone. Do you remember when was the last time you had them?"

The boy shook his head again. "I don't know. I just remember waking up somewhere over there." He pointed towards Pirate Cove. "Foxy was right there, just staring at me. I got scared, so I started running, trying to find a way out, but I couldn't."

"And then you bumped into me," I finished his story. So he wasn't sure how he came to be in this place, nor did he know how he wound up naked. This was getting weirder, and I was coming up short on answers. "You can't remember anything from before?"

The boy looked down, trying to focus on answering my question, when he suddenly winced in pain and held his head. "Ow ow ow!"

"Are you okay?"

"I tried thinking about what happened before, and my head started hurting out of nowhere," he explained.

"Do you at least remember your name?" I asked, bending down to get to his eye level.

"Of course, I remember my name! It's Finn! Finn McCallister!" He answered indignantly.

"That's good, Finn," I told him. "My name is Mike. I'm the security guard here. I'm your friend."

"You are?" Finn asked, and I gave a reassuring nod. "Can you help me get out of here, Mike?"

"Yeah, I got keys out of this place," I replied, showing off the keys in my belt. "But we can't leave just yet."

"What?! Why not?" Finn stamped his foot.

"Because you're the second kid I've found like this," I said, putting my hand on his shoulder, "and I'm getting the sneaking suspicion there are more of you."

"Really? I'm not the only one here?" He asked, a small hint of hope in his voice.

"That's right, and I need to find them before we can leave," I explained. "If I decided to leave after the first kid and left you behind, that wouldn't be fair, would it?"

Finn shook his head. "I guess not." He then looked like he had an idea. "Hey, Mike! Why don't I help you look?"

"What?"

"If I help you look for the other kids, we'll find them much quicker, right? And then we can leave."

I sighed. "You're a good kid for wanting to help, Finn, but this is something I gotta do as the only adult here." Bless his heart for being in the right place, but this was no place to split up and look around. Especially for a little kid.

Finn moaned. "What am I supposed to do, then? Just wait here?"

"You can wait for me in the Security Office," I said, standing back up. "I have the other kid there. It's a safe room. Come with me." I held out my hand for him to take.

"Wait," he said suddenly. "Boy or girl?"

I let out an annoyed sound. "Does it matter?"

"If it's a girl, I don't want to be naked around them," Finn said as he nervously fidgeted around.

"I got a jacket hanging in the office," I explained. The security jacket I gave Beth was the property of the restaurant, so I would have to leave it behind after I clocked out. I still had another jacket I brought from home. "You can use that, but only if you come with me, deal?"

"Deal."

With one hand holding Finn's, and the other holding my flashlight, we made our way back to the office. I was hoping I'd find another kid on the way, but I didn't run into anything. For a boy, Finn was awfully concerned about his modesty, even when talking to a guy like me. Maybe he was raised that way by his folks, and it just sank into his habits, even with his apparent amnesia. We made our way through the West Hall to Security Office when Finn yanked my hand, forcing me to stop.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

"She's there, isn't she? I saw her through the window," Finn said. "Just give me the jacket from here. I'll die of embarrasment if I don't cover up."

"Fine," I sighed. I know I'm supposed to be helpful, but they're trying my patience already. I walked into the room where Beth was still sitting, looking to me and relaxing her shoulders.

"Mike!" She greeted me.

"Hey there. How've you been? You okay?" I asked her, and she nodded in reply. "Good. I'll be right back." I grabbed my green hoodie off the coat rack and walked out. It was a little drier now, which was good news, as this was the one I wore out in the rain. I handed it to Finn. "Here."

"Thank you," he said gratefully and snatched it from my hands. He slipped it on with relative ease, only needing help getting his head out. It was a big piece of clothing, so his modesty was kept intact.

"Better?" I asked him, and he responded with a nod. I thought it would be best to introduce the both of them. "Beth, this is Finn. I found him wandering around. Finn, this is Beth, the girl I told you about."

They both greeted each other with a shy, "Hello," which I found absolutely precious, but I had other business.

"I'm gonna go back out and look around some more. See if I can find anyone else," I explained. "You two be good and stay here, okay?"

They both nodded and returned to watching the screen. I hoped that wouldn't drain the power too much. With them content to wait, I walked into the hall and continued my search. That took top priority since, if I had my theory straight, there were TWO more kids to find!


	2. Rounding Up The Rest

**Sorry this one took so long, guys. My windows for writing have been unforgivably small as of late. Hopefully, I can get the next chapter written and posted in a timely manner. For now, enjoy.**

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 **Chapter 2: Rounding Up The Rest**

I came out into the East Hall this time, as I had ignored the area before in my search. Still nothing there, even looking with my flashlight. I wasn't quite at my wit's end about this, but this was certainly doing a number on my head. Even if I was interested in strange things, this was beyond my scope of ideas.

Adding up everything so far: lightning struck the restaurant. Robots stop moving, but now there are these little kids walking around. Naked little kids. Wasn't sure what that was all about, but I've found two of them. I haven't even come close to solving the biggest question: Why?

What kind of cosmic phenomenon would cause something like this to occur? Stories like this happen in comic books all the time, but those are hardly symbols of scientific accuracy. Sure, there were many mysteries in the universe that we had yet to touch, but there had to be a limit to what was possible, right?

My theory right now follows that since the robots aren't moving, their A.I. consciousness has been transferred to these child forms via the lightning strike. That explains why they're not moving, but that's the only thing that explains. If that was true, these children wouldn't have their own names, and they'd be trying to kill me. I doubt they'd even be children. I couldn't wrap my mind around it, but I would have to wait until I was finished. Right now, finding the other two kids took top priority.

It was when I neared the doorway to the kitchen that I heard something. I've heard this before, a clatter like things were being moved around, but that was when the robots were still active. It gave a little credit to my A.I. theory, that perhaps these kids are following the behavioral patterns of the robots they came from. Maybe only some mannerisms made it over, like where they would move to. If that was the case, I thanked whoever would listen that that was the only thing that transferred over. It would certainly make finding these kids easier.

I peered into the kitchen to find that the place was actually just as dimly lit as every other room. I actually should have expected that, but given that I've never seen what it looked like, my imagination was free to make its own conclusions. If there was a kid here, they weren't easy to spot, so I scanned the room with my eyes before I started using the flashlight. There was a big prep table in the center, likely where they made the dough. At the sides, there were fryers, ovens, and the door to the freezer. Adorning the walls were all the various untensils and pots and pans that were normal for a kitchen, and...

Suddenly, the room flooded with light from one of the corners of the room. The fridge door was opened, but I could barely make out who opened it. The light disoriented my vision, so all I could see over the table was a head. I stepped as quietly as I could over to the other side of the table to get a better look.

It was a girl, just as young, and just as naked as the others. She had blonde hair that reached down to about her shoulder blades, straight but frizzed in a few places. She reached into the fridge, took out a bag of pepperoni that was secured with a wire tie, opened it and just started eating some of it like nothing was wrong at all. She wasn't even trying to cover herself. It wasn't until she turned around that she noticed me and stopped.

We both stared at each other for a few seconds, unsure of what to do. How was I supposed to approach this? Finally, she took a pepperoni out of the bag and offered it to me. "Hungry?"

"Uh...no thanks," I politely declined. That little moment did allow me to regain my bearings. "What are you doing here?"

"Getting food," she answered nonchalantly. "I was hungry, so I looked all over and found the kitchen, but all I could find was this." She held up the bag.

"Do you even know where you are, little miss?" I asked her. She was certainly taking to this better than the others, but that wasn't necessarily a good thing.

"No," she said, popping another pepperoni into her mouth, "but I'll find my way around. I'm good at that." She then walked past me and started to leave.

"Hey, whoa..." I grabbed her by the shoulder before she could get too far. "Can't have you going somewhere by yourself."

"I'll be fine," she said. Was this girl for real?

"It's dark, this place is locked up, and you're butt naked," I felt the need to point that out. Maybe she hadn't realized that yet.

The girl looked down at herself, but didn't seem embarassed at her lack of clothing. "I know."

"You're not scared at all?" I finally had to ask.

"Nope," she said with a smile. "I haven't seen anyone else around, and the dark's nothing to be scared of." That's the first time I ever met a kid who wasn't scared of the dark.

"Well, even so, I can't just leave you by yourself," I said. "I'm Mike, the night guard. What's your name?"

"Chrissy," she introduced herself politely.

"Okay then, Chrissy. I'm gonna need you to first hand me that bag. That belongs to the restaurant." I bent down and reached my hand out. I would've just snatched it, but that wouldn't have gone well.

She hesitated at first, bringing the bag closer to herself and trying to look as intimidating as possible, like a chihuahua guarding a big bone. But when she saw I wasn't budging, she relented and started walking back to the fridge. "Fine..."

"Sorry, sweetie, but I'm not gonna let you get taken into custody for stealing." Or public indecency, for that matter. Once I was sure she put the bag back in the fridge, I kept close to her. "Good. Next, we need to find you something to wear."

"Why?" Chrissy asked. "I don't care if I'm naked."

"Well, I do, and so do the others," I told her.

"The others?"

"I found two other kids wandering like you in this place," I explained. "I have them staying in the Security Office until I can make sure everyone in this place is accounted for."

"Really?" She seemed particularly interested. "How many are there?"

"I don't know, but I'm hoping it's not many," I answered. "Right now, I'm finding you something to cover up with."

"But-"

"No buts. No bare butts, either," I joked.

She laughed, a good sign. "Okay. But what's there to wear?"

"Well, let's see..." I took a look around the kitchen, hoping that the workers didn't take their aprons home with them. I was running out of things to cover these kids up with, . Thankfully, next to the fridge was a shelf full of white cloth aprons. I breathed a sigh of relief and grabbed one. "Here we go."

"Will that work?" Chrissy asked.

"Only one way to find out." I unfolded the apron and held it against her front. If the waist tie was at her waist, the bottom of the apron would just barely reach her feet, so she'd need to be careful when walking. Wrapping the sides around her, I discovered it would cover her butt pretty well, so I wouldn't need to worry about that. The neck strap wouldn't hang off her neck, so I brought it up as close as comfortably possible and tied off the strap so it wouldn't slip. With it finished, it almost looked like Chrissy was wearing a dress. "There. What do you think?"

"Not bad, I guess," she said as she spread her arms and looked at herself.

"I know. I'm not a seamstress, okay?" I said. "That's just for now until I can get you some actual clothes. Now come on." I put out my hand for her to take and started back towards the security office.

The unfortunate thing about tying the apron so closely around Chrissy's waist was that it didn't leave much room for leg movement. I found this out when she tried making longer strides and caused the straps in the back to loosen. Everytime I tried to tighten them back up, it'd just get loose again when she started walking. I gave up after a while and opted to just carry her. She wasn't very heavy, and seemed just fine with being carried, especially since she got to hold the flashlight.

When we reached the Security Office, I found Beth and Finn waiting for me at the desk, turning away from the monitor tablet. I guess they had been using it to keep tabs on me and the restaurant. Whatever brought them peace, I told myself.

"Hey guys," I said, putting Chrissy down gently. "You weren't waiting long, were you?"

"No," Beth shook her head. She looked pleased to see another girl. "Who is this?"

"My name's Chrissy!" She introduced herself before I could. "What's your name?"

"Beth."

"I'm Finn," the lone boy said, pointing at himself. "Why are you wearing an apron?"

"Because Mike didn't want me running around naked," Chrissy replied.

"You were naked too?" Beth asked. "That's so weird."

"You're telling me, kids," I chimed in, then turned to Beth. "Did you find anything on the monitors?"

"Um...I did see something..." Beth answered nervously. "Near the stage, but I couldn't see what it was."

"How long ago?"

Beth shrugged. "A couple minutes? I don't know." I guess I should've expected that a kid her age wouldn't know how long a minute would be.

"Alright, then they're probably still there," I said as I turned to leave. "Hopefully, it won't be too hard to find them. I'll be back, you guys. Just sit tight and remember what you need to do if you see trouble, okay?"

Beth and Finn nodded and I was on my way back out. I could hear Beth explaining to Chrissy how the cameras and doors worked in the office. They had been real good since I brought them in, and I hoped that would continue. Heaven knows I probably wouldn't be able to handle them if they were as rambunctious as the kids who usually come here. I chalked that up to them being scared, suddenly waking up in an unknown place. They'll most likely go back to being hyperactive children once they settle down and get out of here.

That's when a thought occured to me. What happens after I find the (hopefully) last kid? What am I gonna do with four kids who just appeared to me, with no form of identification other than the names they gave me? I could take them to my apartment since I live by myself, but then what? I'd need to feed them, get them some clothes, and then...? What about school? What about the rest of their lives? I'm a wreck enough as it is! How am I supposed to take care of these kids?!

These thoughts were clouding my mind way too much. For the moment, all I had to worry about was finding whoever it was that Beth saw on the monitor. After carefully scanning each room on the way, I reached the dining room and came up to the stage.

Standing on the stage, still not moving, were Freddy, Bonnie and Chica, in the same positions I saw them in when the shift started. Shining a light on any of them did nothing to calm myself down from seeing them tromp through the dark halls on the other nights I was here.

That first night was a terrifying experience. Knowing that any moment, they'd be at my door and kill me out of some kind of programming would have been enough to have any other guy running out of the joint. I stayed, more out of grim curiosity and stupidity, and now, I had this to take care of.

How would tonight have gone if this incident hadn't happened, I wondered. Would this have been the night these killer machines succeded? Have I been given some kind of chance at a better life through finding these kids? Or was I just lucky? Lucky enough that a power surge and some supernatural stuff mixed together at that very moment to create these kids, with me just being at the right place? There were too many questions, and there would be plenty of time to answer them after I got all these kids together.

Looking all over the stage proved fruitless, as there didn't seem to be anybody around. Maybe Beth was just seeing things? I couldn't write this off as that. It wouldn't be good of me to just leave a child here to fend for themselves the rest of the night. There was a good chance they were scared and hiding somewhere. I certainly couldn't rule that out, but that raised the question: Where would they hide?

That's when I noticed the curtain off to the side of the stage was closer to its end than the curtain on the other side. Looking beyond it, there was an open door that led to backstage. Not much of a lead, but it was better than nothing. I climbed up on the stage and headed to the door.

I had seen this room through the cameras in the past. Seeing all those mascot heads on the shelves was incredibly unsettling, and only reminded me that I was up against inhuman machines, and not people in suits playing a stupid prank. How I hoped it was like the plot of a cartoon, where the corrupt boss of a pizza company was just trying to keep people away from where he was embezzling stolen funds by-

"RAAH!"

"AAAAAHH!"

I must've screamed like a little kid myself. No sooner had I walked into the backstage room, that I found myself with a Freddy head suddenly in my face. I stumbled backwards from the shock and landed on my rear. I would have continued to be scared if the apparition that jumped at me hadn't started laughing.

"Ha ha ha ha! I got you! I got you!" The child taunted in a sing-song voice. I grabbed the flashlight off the floor and quickly turned it towards the voice. It was a little boy, African-American from what I can tell by his skin color. He was jumping up and down in triumph at having scared me, still wearing the Freddy head on his shoulders and holding it up.

"Yeah, very funny, kid," I said, trying my best to regain my composure and standing back up. "What's wrong with you?"

"But your face! It was so funny!" The boy continued to laugh.

"Funny for you, maybe. Come here!" I walked over and yanked the Freddy head off the boy, revealing a mess of matted black hair. He still had a smile on his face from his successful scare. "What gave you the idea to pull a prank like this in the middle of the night on a security guard?"

"Well, I saw you walking around the place while I was hiding behind Chica," the boy explained. Was he really there the whole time? "I knew you would probably look for me, so I thought I'd hide in here and have some fun."

"Uh-huh," I replied. A funny idea, but there was one major flaw. "And what were you gonna do if I never looked in here and just decided to go home?"

"Wait until it opened and sneak out," he answered.

"Sneak out? In your birthday suit?"

"I'd've gotten something to cover up before that! I'm not dumb!" He exclaimed indignantly. "I could just swipe a jacket or something."

"Well, don't you have it all figured out?" I asked, smirking. I had to admit, this boy had quite a plan for just waking up in this place and having no idea how or why.

"Yup!"

"Well, you're in luck, because you won't have to do that," I told him. "I'll take you to my place. I can get you clothes, food, and a place to sleep."

"I ain't going home with no stranger!" He shouted, shaking his head.

"Mike."

"What?"

"My name is Mike," I repeated. "Now I'm not a stranger anymore. What's your name?"

The boy looked off to the side, his head drooped in what seemed to be...embarrassment? Finally, he uttered his name. "Freddy."

"...Seriously?" He had to be lying.

"I know, it's the same as that stupid bear, but I swear to you that's my name!" Freddy shouted.

"Okay, okay. I believe you," I said, my hands up in defense. "Now, Freddy, have you seen any other kids walking around here?"

"Only one I saw was that redheaded boy you took with you," he answered. "I've been here the whole time, and I haven't seen anybody."

This boy seemed to have it together more than the other three. He might even know more. "Okay, then. Can you remember anything other than your name and where you are?"

Freddy opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly stopped and looked pensively at the floor. "No. That's weird. What's going on?" He started looking slightly panicked.

"Calm down, Freddy. I was just asking to see if you knew," I told him. "None of the other kids knew anything more than that, either. I'm hoping I can figure out what happened to all of you, but this isn't the time or the place." I lent my hand to the boy. "Come on."

"We're safe with you, right?" Freddy asked nervously. "You're gonna figure this out, right?"

"I will. I promise."

Without much left to give him, I gave up and decided to let Freddy wear the white dress shirt I had as part of my uniform and rolled up the sleeves. I had a tank as an undershirt, so the only thing I'd have to worry about is the cold. If I was any more bitter about the prank he pulled, I would've just given him my hat to cover with. I had to prove I was friendly, though, so I opted not to.

Leaving the stage area, Freddy was much quieter, probably because he recognized my authority as an adult. Certainly haven't had that before, but it felt nice. His eyes never looked in the same direction twice as we walked, scanning all the rooms we went through. I thought it interesting how attentive to every little detail, and it made me wonder why. It was pretty clear my A.I. theory was quickly crumbling, and I would be lost to wonder just what was going on.

We reached the Security office, and I was relieved to see that everyone was still calm. I introduced Freddy to the group, and they seemed happy to have him, especially Finn, who was glad to have another boy in the group. Once introductions were over, I wanted to get some things clear.

"Okay, kids," I started, "I want to get some names here to make sure of something. Finn told me his last name. What about the rest of you? Do you remember your full names?" The children thought for a few seconds before they each gave me their name.

"Beth Tsukishiro."

"Chrissy Taylor."

"Freddy Southerland."

"Good. Now, do you remember anything else? Your parents, maybe? Where you live? ...Your pet?" I had to go with anything that might trigger a memory.

Once again, the kids looked to be deep in thought. After a minute or two, all they could give me were vague answers. "Kind of", "I know I have them, just not what they look like", and "I remember...a room," were the best I got.

"That's okay, kids," I said. "We don't have to worry about that right now." It was clear I wasn't going to get anything crystal clear, but it was worth a shot.

"But if we can't remember what our parents looked like, or where we live," Finn said, "what are we supposed to do? How are we supposed to go home if we don't know where home is?"

"Mike said he'd bring us to his place," Freddy piped up.

"Really, Mike?" Chrissy asked, eyes aglow. "You'll do that?"

It was a bit of a hard decision to make. For one, I wasn't sure how I was gonna keep four kids in my apartment. But on the other hand, was I really going to leave them to fend for themselves?

I took a deep breath. "Yeah. I will."

Immediately, I was set upon by four pairs of arms hugging me. Being thanked like this felt really good, even if I wasn't sure how I was going to pull it off. I guess this is what it feels like when you've got someone to take care of. It was going to be a trip, I was sure, but I knew it'd be worth it if I gave these kids a chance at life.


	3. The Morning After

**Sorry this one's late, folks. Life likes to get in the way of writing. Hopefully, this chapter will satisfy until I get the next one out. Enjoy, and don't forget to comment and fave!**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: The Morning After**

If there was one thing I could take from sleeping in the living room, it's that I needed to invest in curtains. Who needs an alarm clock when you have the natural rays of the sun to wake you up? At 9 in the morning, when you've only had three hours of sleep? I couldn't be too mad about it, though. After all, I chose to sleep here.

During the trip home, the kids were finally winding down from all the excitment (I use that word loosely) and had fallen asleep by the time we got to my apartment. Thankfully, the place where I parked wasn't at all far from my apartment, so carrying them all one by one wasn't too hard. They also weren't that heavy, which was nice. On that thought, I knew I should probably check on them.

I carefully opened the door to my room. There they were, still asleep. I decided to let them sleep in my bed, since it was the only place that could accommodate them. It was big enough so that all four of them would fit, give or take a few liberties in spacing. The girls shared the front, while the boys were at the foot of the bed, set across the bed.

I got closer and they didn't seem bothered. The clothes I gave them at the restaurant wouldn't have been too comfortable to sleep in, (and half of it belonged to the company anyway) so I slipped them into some shirts of mine that worked just fine. It was a very peaceful scene, despite the very odd circumstances that brought me to it. As I enjoyed the scene, a noise snapped me out of it.

BRRRRR-INNNGG!

I swear, the phone didn't used to be that loud. I must've been extra sensitive because of everything from last night. I quickly shook off the shock and ran for the phone on the kitchen counter.

"Hello?"

"Mike? It's David." That name belonged to my "manager", a term I use only because there's no better word for someone who's in charge of you. He's never around during my shift, though, so I'm not sure if he can even be called that.

"David. Hey," I greet back. "What's up?"

"Sorry for calling you so early after your shift, Mike, but I need to ask you about yesterday."

"Yesterday?" My heart skipped. I tried my best to sound calm, and I hoped I wasn't giving myself away.

"Yeah, that storm last night was really bad," David continued, not sounding at all accusatory or angry, which was a relief. "Did anything happen in the restaurant?"

"Uh...the power went out for a little bit, but it came back on about 20 minutes later," I tell him. I obviously felt like I couldn't say anything more, unless I wanted him to freak out, call me crazy or call the police.

"It did? Damn," I heard him say. "That explains the cameras."

"Cameras? What happened to the cameras?"

"The cameras reset when they came back on, Mike. You didn't set them to record?" Now, David was sounding pissed off.

"You never taught me how to set them. I thought the cameras were supposed to be for surveillance only!" I shot back. I really didn't know.

"Oh," he replied, his rage suddenly coming to a halt. "Well, we don't have any footage past 12:10, so all we got is your word."

"Then, let me tell you that nothing happened after the power came back on. Shift continued as normal."

"Really?" His voice went back to sounding like he suspected something. "What about our 'friends' on the stage?"

I stopped. "Wh-What about them?" I was clearly losing my cool. Not good.

"If the power went out, you should've been robo-food before 1," he said. "Seeing as how I'm talking to you now, that obviously didn't happen. Did the power outage affect the robots too?"

"They didn't move at all after the power came back on," I answered. If I stuck to a partial truth, it might get him off my back, I convinced myself. "Why? Are they not working anymore?"

"They're working just fine," David answered. "Though I think all the electricity in the air might have gotten to their sensitive systems."

"Why do you say that?"

"I don't know. They just seem...stiffer than usual, that's all. Like, they don't have as much life to their movements as they used to," David sniffed a bit. "I'm not sure how the storm or the power going out could've done that, but I'm no engineer. We'll probably call some repair guys down later to have a look-see."

"That would be a good idea," I told him. I then remembered something important. "By the way, when do I come to get my check?"

"Anytime after 2 o'clock, Mike," he replied.

"Cool. I'll be there at 2," I said. "I also need to return my security jacket. And an apron."

The other end was silent for a few seconds. "...The jacket makes sense, but why did you take an apron?"

"Well, the jacket I have isn't made to resist rain water," I explained, "so it got super soaked and gross. I couldn't wear it back home. I also stepped in a mud puddle, and I only have one pair of shoes, so I used one of the aprons to clean them off."

"Mike!" He didn't sound angry. Just shocked.

"It'll be clean when it gets back to the restaurant, I swear."

"Whatever," David sighed. "I'll be here with your check. See you later."

"Later," I replied and hung up the phone. After that, it felt like all the air I had breathed in from the beginning of that conversation came out at once. I slumped over the kitchen counter, thanking the fact that I was able to bluff so well. Especially with the fact that the cameras recorded everything up until last night.

It did confirm that the staff knew about the robots moving around at night. That made feel a little peeved. What was I, some sacrifice to be thrown to these mechanical monsters to appease them? Did they delight in seeing me fight for my life every night? Still too many questions, and now that my five-shift trail run had finished, it would be difficult to investigate further. But before any of that...

"Mike...?"

A voice from my room snapped me out of my train of thought. The door was opened slightly, and from it, I could see Finn peeking out from it. Wearing one of my band T-shirts, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and was looking at me curiously. He must've woken up because he heard me talking on the phone.

"Hey, Finn," I greeted him. "You sleep okay?"

Finn nodded his head, still a little groggy. "Who were you talking to?"

"My boss."

"You're not in trouble, are you?" He asked, suddenly frightened.

"Nah. He was just a little worried about the storm last night," I told him. "How are the others? Still asleep?"

"Uh-huh."

"Let's go wake them up, huh? I'll cook you all breakfast," I asked with a smile.

"Yeah!" He answered excitedly, then went back into the room.

Since they didn't seem to wake up from the conversation or even the phone ringing, I had to try a different approach. I reached for the light switch and flicked it on. The light wasn't as intense as natural sunlight, but it seemed to do the trick. Immediately, the other kids scrunched their faces and began squirming.

"Come on, kids," I exclaimed. "Up and at 'em."

"Already?" Freddy yawned. "Feels like I fell asleep seconds ago."

"We don't have to go to school, do we?" Chrissy asked as she stretched her arms up.

"No, but I'm not about to let you sleep the whole day away, either."

"Are these yours, Mike?" Beth asked, looking down at the Star Wars shirt she was wearing.

"Yeah. Much more comfy than the jacket you had before, isn't it?" I asked her. She nodded in reply. "Good. Take care of that. It was a gift from a friend."

Slowly, they all climbed down from the bed. They brightened awfully quickly after Finn told them I'd be making them breakfast. In fact, they just ran to the table near the kitchen and sat down as if they weren't dead tired five seconds ago. How I had this much energy when I was this age, I'll never figure out.

"Alright, kids. I hope pancakes are okay with all of you," I told them. A gaggle of cheers erupted from the table, along with excited bouncing in their seats. It gave me a sense of pride to get kids like this so happy. I hoped I wouldn't disappoint them.

I set to make ourselves some pancakes, a recipe so simple, anybody could do it. I have cooking experience myself, so I could do this in my sleep if I wanted. Though, needless to say, I had never cooked with an audience before. Couldn't exactly make it flashy, but they seemed entertained enough watching me flip them. Making two for each of the kids, and three for me, I set the plates and gave each stack a fair amount of syrup.

"So, Mike," Freddy said with a mouthful of pancakes, which I reminded him to either finish or cover his mouth, "what are we gonna do today?"

"Well, at some point today, I need to send some transcripts for the magazine," I started. "Also, I need to pick up my check from the restaurant and return the stuff I needed to borrow. Hmm...what else? Oh, yeah! And I should probably get you all some actual clothes!"

"But we are wearing clothes, Mike," Chrissy pointed out. I had to laugh at that.

"You're wearing one item of clothing, and I can't keep having you wear my shirts," I explained. "I'm gonna run out eventually. Besides, I'm sure you'd appreciate wearing things that fit like pants, underwear, some socks, maybe?"

Beth and Finn nodded their heads. Glad I could get them to agree on this part. I know most kids don't care about what they wear, but in a world like this, someone has to.

"Good. Now, my only problem is how I'm gonna do all that..."

"What do you mean?" Beth asked.

"Well, I'll be needing to go out if I want to get anything done, but leaving the four of you alone in this place is out of the question."

"So just take us with you!" Freddy said as if the answer was simple.

"I could, but driving around with four little kids who are only wearing big shirts of mine...isn't going to look good. People would ask questions," I stated.

"Like what?"

"Well, obviously, what am I doing with a bunch of kids that are clearly not mine when it's not a school day, and you're in nothing but a shirt," I answered.

"You can't tell them the truth?" Finn asked. Bless his heart.

"If somebody told you they found a bunch of kids running around naked in a restaurant after a thunderstorm, would you believe them?"

"Maybe..." Finn asked, fidgeting a bit. "Probably not, though..."

"Yeah, most people wouldn't buy that story. I could go to jail for kidnapping." Or worse, but I wasn't gonna tell them that.

"You could always leave us here in the house," Chrissy suggested.

"Absolutely not," I said right away. "I'm not leaving four unattended children by themselves in this place. Sorry, but I can't trust that you won't break something."

"That's mean!" She replied. "How do you know we'll break something?"

"Call it a guess. I'm just being careful," I told her.

"Well, if you can't leave us here, and you can't take us with you," Freddy said, "then what?"

"I don't know. Just give me a little time to think," I got up from my seat and started pacing around the kitchenette. "Come on, Mikey. Think."

Ideas weren't coming easy to me. How was I supposed to explain why the kids look like they do if anyone asked? What if I never get that chance and someone makes a call to the police without my knowledge? I leaned over the sink in frustration and looked out the window. That's when I noticed the pool, and suddenly, an idea came to me. It was crazy, but all I had left was crazy.

It was a bit of a drive, but there was one place I knew I could go to buy some clothes for the kids on the cheap. Near the downtown area was a discount clothing store that bought directly from the warehouses and accepted donations. It didn't see a whole lot of traffic, being a local joint without much presence. I was extremely grateful for that, since it meant I could get in, get out, and get going with only the smallest number of people seeing us.

I pulled up to the closest parking spot I could, and turned to face the kids. I was surprised I was able to get all the way without any weird looks from the other drivers, given that they all had towels wrapped around them. Then again, we caught just about every green light on the way, so that helped a lot.

"Alright, you guys, let's go over this," I said to them, making sure I had their attention. "I'm gonna give the worker a story that'll help us get into this store without trouble. Just let me do the talking, and we should be fine. Until I finish talking to them, don't touch anything, and stay close to me, okay?" The kids all nodded their heads. With that, I took a deep breath to prepare myself and stepped out of the car.

A grown man walking about with four kids wearing just towels was something anybody would count as incredibly suspicious. But then, would a guy who would be intending to do something bad to these kids bother to be out in the open with his supposed victims? Or maybe that's just what a predator would want others to think, and...I'm getting way too paranoid. With another breath, I entered the store.

This place wasn't the fanciest clothing store. Everywhere you looked, there was racks and racks full of shirts, pants, coats, and some purses in the corner. There didn't seem to be anyone in the store save for the cashier at the register in the center. Her bespectacled face turned to greet me when she heard the door open, but then immediately turned down and saw the kids. Here it comes.

"Excuse me, sir," she started, "but we have a dress code policy."

"I know, but you see," I responded, "I have a bit of an emergency."

"I'm listening," she said, straightening up. Good. She probably figured that there had to be some good reason for how this all looked. I supposed I looked nice enough to be heard out as well. Whatever the reason, I was thankful.

"So, my friend's flown down here for a business conference, and he decided to bring along his kids and their friend, the little ones you see here," I explained, motioning my head back towards the kids. "They get down here, but their luggage was put on the wrong plane!"

"What?" The cashier exclaimed. "Okay, but that doesn't explain why they're wearing towels..."

"Getting to that," I said. "So they're pretty bummed out, since their stuff won't be here for three days! So I, wanting to cheer them up, decide to get them all swimsuits and take them to the beach."

"That's sweet of you," she said. Good, I've got her sympathy. "But I take it there's more bad news..."

"Is there ever!" I replied. "So we come early, beat the rush, and hang out for about an hour. Time comes to leave, so I help them dry off in one of the changing rooms. But, I was an idiot and left the bag with their clothes outside of the changing room, so guess what happens?"

"It was stolen?" She asks, with me nodding in confirmation. "Who would steal a bag of clothes?"

"Probably someone who thought that my wallet was in there, or something. I don't even want to know what that 'something' is if they knew what was in there."

The cashier shuddered. "That's awful."

"It really is," I said. Time to bargain. "Now, I'm not asking for free clothes here. You seem nice, and you do good work in this business, so I'd like to support it. I just want three sets of clothes and a pair of sandals for each of them. Would it be okay if they wore one of those sets out of the store?"

"Sure. We don't charge by brand, just by item, and it's all listed in the register."

"Excellent," I smiled. "We'll be right back. Gotta figure out their sizes and everything. Come on, kids."

With the kids in tow, I headed straight for the children's section. Out of the boys' aisles, I picked out a couple of plain t-shirts and some superhero ones when the boys spotted them. Some shorts and pants later, I went over to the girls' aisles and got some shirts, some shorts and a couple of dresses in case they liked to wear them.

"Can we wear these right now?" Chrissy asked me, hands at her towel.

"Not yet," I said, quickly grabbing her hands before she could drop it. "There are rooms you can do that in. Besides, I still gotta get you guys underwear."

After grabbing a pack of underwear for both boys and girls, I lead the kids to the changing rooms on one side of the store. Hanging the clothes on the hooks inside the stalls, I opened both packs and handed them off. Finn and Freddy took one stall, and Beth and Chrissy took the one right next to it.

"Okay, you all know how to dress yourselves, right?" I asked just to be sure, to which I was met with eye rolls and sounds of confirmation. "Good. Pick out what you like, and come on out when you're ready. If something doesn't fit, let me know."

The stall doors closed, and the sounds of shuffling began as the kids tried on their clothes. From what I could hear, it didn't sound like they were having too much of a hard time getting everything on. After about ten minutes, the girls' door opened and Chrissy and Beth stepped out.

"Thanks for getting the dress, Mike! I really like it!" Chrissy said, showing off the yellow summer dress I picked up. She gave a small twirl to show how well it flowed.

"Is this okay?" Beth wore a pair of shorts and a baby blue shirt. I nodded to her, and the smile she put on was worth this effort. I thought it a little odd though, that Chrissy chose the dress, as I totally expected Beth to wear it. Oh well. Just shows that there was more to these kids than I thought.

The boys' door opened a minute after, with Freddy and Finn dressed and ready. Freddy had a Batman shirt and a pair of blue jeans. Finn wore a plain red tee and khaki shorts.

"Phew. This feels a lot better," Freddy said, standing confidently with his hands at his hips.

"I'll bet it does," I replied. "How about you, Finn? Feels better to be wearing that clothes that fit, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Alright. Last thing to get is something for your feet. Some sandals should do just fine," I said.

After gathering the rest of the clothes (which the kids left on the floor as they tried each piece, no doubt) from the stalls, we came to the shoe aisle. We managed to get some flip-flops and sandals that fit the kids well enough. With the kids carrying the towels they were wearing before, I carried the rest to the register, where the cashier was waiting.

"Did you find everything okay?" She asked. A manufactured answer, but still nice to hear.

"More than okay," I answered, then briefly glanced at her name tag, "Dana. But...uh, the kids didn't have any underwear, so I'm afraid I had to open these..."

Dana looked down at the open underwear packages. "Well, so long as you're paying for them," she sighed. "And it was an emergency, so why don't I give you a discount?"

"Oh, bless your heart," I said with a big smile. "You're my savior."

"I'm doing this for the kids," she rebuffed. "They don't deserve what happened to them. But you are a great guy for wanting to help them out."

"Well, thank you anyway," I told her. After paying for the clothes, I walked out the store with the newly dressed kids. As I put the bags in the trunk, Freddy claimed the passenger seat again and quickly sat down while the others climbed into the back.

"Where are we going now, Mike?" Finn asked.

"Now I gotta go return the stuff I borrowed from the restaurant and pick up my check," I answered. "That shouldn't take too long. Still, I can't believe how little I had to pay for all that." I pulled out the reciept to take another look.

"That lady was really nice, too," Beth said.

"She was, wasn't she?" I said. Glancing at the bottom of the reciept, I noticed something written in pen at the bottom. Seven numbers and the words, "Call me". Blushing, I stuffed the reciept back in my pocket and started the car.


End file.
